Are you currently holding a mutual fund that is not performing well compared to your other assets? Before dumping it, consider that it might be an indicator that your investment portfolio is well-diversified. I’ve written often on this topic, but it’s still worth reviewing how diversification works. In non-mathematical terms, it’s the inclusion of multiple…
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As I wrote in a previous blog, we live in a world of uncertainty. It’s impossible to predict future stock prices no matter how fancy the purported methodology.   But that’s no reason not to invest.  Most of us need to grow our savings in order to keep up with inflation as well as to be…
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What’s going on with the stock market right now? We started the year with the worst market performance in history.  In February, volatility continued to reach multi-year highs.  As if that weren’t bad enough, the media reported in March that second quarter earnings were expected to be broadly lower. Things were shaping up to be…
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A cornerstone of Modern Portfolio Theory is the concept that you can reduce the risk (variation) of an investment portfolio by adding securities whose performance does not correlate with those in the portfolio. This led to the identification of asset classes – groupings of securities that perform similarly under certain economic conditions – and ultimately…
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Ever since the crisis of 2008 the Fed had been utilizing what’s been called “quantitative easing” to focus on commercial banks to stimulate the economy. This approach involved purchasing a significant volume of bonds to drive up bond prices and reduce interest rates, with the expectation that the lower rates would stimulate demand for more…
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In the past two months we’ve experienced one of the most volatile starts to a new investment year in history. Surely there must be a good reason why this is occurring.  Is it a harbinger of a severe economic downturn?  Recognition that stocks have been overvalued for years?  A response to the fact that Donald…
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